Herald and Journal,
Nov. 4, 2002

It's time to vote in an unusual election year

"Unusual" could be used to sum up this year's
election for local voters.

Among the out-of-the-ordinary events include a missing
DFL candidate, bitter division among the Wright County Republicans, and
the sudden death of Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. statewide.

For the larger races, two online voters' guides are linked
from www.herald-journal.com for readers who wish to learn more about the
candidates.

The missing DFLer

An unusual twist in this year's election was the disappearance
of candidate Sheila Sudbeck of Winsted in the race against incumbent Republican
Steve Dille.

Sudbeck's name will appear on the ballot, but she moved
out of state shortly after filing for the race, making her ineligible for
the position.

Her lapse leaves two candidates in the state senate race,
Dille and Paul Murray of Dassel, who is running on behalf of the Constitution
Party.

Several local battles

Area battles include deep division in Wright County about
two Republican candidates for District 19B state representative.

Previously, Dick Borrell received the Republican endorsement,
but this was withdrawn following publication in the Star Tribune of sexual
misconduct 15 years ago.

A write-in campaign was then launched for Darren Knight
who had lost by a slim margin to Borrell in the primary.

The Wright County Republican leadership met again recently
to vote again about the withdrawal of support for Borrell ­ with the
withdrawal of support being re-affirmed two-to-one ­ contrary to information
in a release by Borrell campaign supporters last week.

Both men are facing DFL opponent Lori Schmidt of Otsego
in the race for District 19B.

In the District 18A state representative race, incumbent
Tony Kielkucki is being challenged by Lowell Ueland.

Another race attracting attention are the Wright County
Sheriff's race, with contender Lenny Walker making an aggressive challenge
to incumbent Gary Miller.

Redistricting

Redistricting is also causing extra turmoil, since new
division lines severely carved up the Howard Lake and Waverly areas.

Division lines re-drawing districts caused neighbors who
previously had politicians in common to have different representation now.

For example, a half-mile near Little Waverly Lake is where
three state representative districts converge.

Theoretically, a person could stand at that spot, and be
touching three different districts where the townships meet, Marysville
(now being represented by District 19A), Middleville by District 18B ­
and Victor Township in District 19B.

Voters in the City of Howard Lake will choose among candidates
for District 18B, which includes a large sections of what used to be Rep.
Bob Ness' territory in what was formerly known as District 20A.

This leaves the cities of Waverly and Montrose, as well
as the townships of Victor and Woodland, located inside a newly formed district,
District 19B ­ the focus of the fierce battle among Borrell, Knight
and Schmidt.

Another example is that the three counties, McLeod, Wright,
and Carver, are all in different congressional districts. There is a point
just northeast of Winsted where the three districts converge.

· District 7, which includes Winsted and Lester
Prairie, extends far into northwestern Minnesota.

· District 6 includes Howard Lake, Waverly, Montrose,
and the area generally toward St. Cloud.

· District 2 is largely the Twin Cities area, but
reaches as far as Hollywood Township just outside of Winsted.

Wellstone's death

Topping off the unusual political season is the sudden
death of Sen. Paul Wellstone, which will cause many absentee voters in Wright
County to make arrangements for substitute ballots (see inside for details).

Absentee ballots are popular in Wright County, with already
800 being cast before the news of Wellstone's death was known.